S. Guraziu – Ars Poetica, Sept 6, 2018
( for the first time in history, by using a wide range of data from the UN, we have an Index that measures what each country contributes to the common good of humanity )
With the tremendous progress being made in all fronts, in all areas of life, in all sciences, we’re getting used to think that ahead of us lies a great future for all of humanity. We’re getting advanced in every aspect, socially, culturally, technologically.
Lets say, today we’re heading for New York… (we own a private jet, why not) and making business “on the fly”. We have buttons and smart devices, all services of thousands satellites up there, are to serve us. When we arrive, all what’s left is signing the papers. Tomorrow, lets say our machines can fly supersonically, shortening the whole issue, making possible business trips Amsterdam-Sydney and back… in a day.
That’s cool, our “mindset” is okay, it makes sense, great techno-advances, scientific advances bring also prosperity. We know that, we’ve witnessed that for at least 150 years of our “industrial revolution”. But the history of our progress was a “long” way, as we now in the past it couldn’t be done this easy.
Today we’re so advanced, we have thousands of universities around the world and briliant minds… briliant scientists making advancements every day in their fileds. It should be true, ahead of us lies a shiny future, what could go wrong – we’re always optimistic. After all, it isn’t “hard” to be optimistic, maybe a larger “part” of us is bio-programmed that way, even dreams exist!
Yet as if deep inside us we’re little bit worried, as if our heart wishes: if only humanity could ban war-making for good, if only humanity could learn how to act together, protecting this beautiful world, our planet, all species. Cause we tend to be also realistic, not just “blindly” optimistic. Deep inside our minds as if we’re aware that countries of the world finally should begin to learn how to work together for the common good of humanity.
Four years ago at TED, Simon Anholt started a global debate about what countries are really for. Do they exist purely to serve the interests of their own citizens (at any cost), or are they actively working for all of humanity?
Now for the first time in history, by using a wide range of data from the United Nations and other international organisations, we have an Index that measures what each country contributes to the common good of humanity, and what it takes away, relative to its size.
The top-3 “Good Countries” (in the list of 163 countries – published in 2017) are the Netherlands, Switzerland and Denmark.
The index is formed by combining statistics of 35 data points that are generated mainly by the UN. These data points are combined into a general measure that provides an overall ranking and a specific ranking in 7 categories: Science & Technology, Culture, Peace & Security, Prosperity & equality, Health & Well-being, World order, Planet & Climate. The concept and the index itself have been developed by Simon Anholt. The index was compiled by Dr. Robert Govers with the support of various other organizations.
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But again, what countries are really for, do they exist just to serve the interests of their own citizens? According to Simon Anholt this debate is a very critical one, because if the answer is “yes”, then we’re all in deep trouble. Of course, the debate is tricky one but it’s really a nice debate, it’s truly a “humanistic” debate.
As Simon Anholt puts it, “most of the world’s problems are just symptoms of a bigger, underlying problem: that we haven’t yet worked out how to organise ourselves as a single species inhabiting a single planet”. Simon says “this can change”.
There are 700 million people who think pretty much the “same” as Simon. That is one big country of people who think the “same”, the world’s third largest nation. These are the “people who’d like governments to focus a lot more on collaborating and a little less on competing; people who don’t mistrust or dislike people just because they come from a different background; people who see a great future for humanity if only humanity could learn to work as one”.
After 4 years of working on this idea, their research has shown that at least 10% of the world’s population fully shares the values of the “Good Country”.
That’s why their “Good Country” is becoming a “real” country (although virtual one) with hundreds of millions of citizens. Their task now is to activate that vast, invisible nation; to grant it its sovereign status, and so to create a powerful new player at the heart of the international community. Their task is to create a true sovereign power that designs and executes innovative new ways of solving international problems.
They’re not making 1 country more cause we need 1 “Good country”, but because the humanity needs Good countries to build a better world. This new virtual country could “teach” or help the Real countries. And the world’s first “virtual country” is a Big nation, only China and India are “bigger”, but in the future that might change too. With their attitude there are no moral judgments about countries. With a “Good Country” they mean a country that contributes to the greater good of humanity. A country that serves the interests of its own people, but without harming – and preferably by advancing – the interests of people in other countries too.
So their Good Country will be a country without a Government. It looks a bit like an “utopia”, but it stands. It’s a virtual country after all. Their “virtual country” could prove exactly what they’re claiming. Thanks to AI developments of today and to big-data technologies it’s allready possible to simulate anything we wish. Their “virtual country” will work as a self-organising system (after all it’s just info, interactive big data, it’s statistics in the clusters), it can collaborate actively with Real countries (cause it’s a collaboration between AI-s, it’s just interaction with databases of the Real countries. Their “virtual country” can show to the Real countries how to be a “Good Country”, both for their own citizens and for the world as a whole!
Their “country will launch in two stages, enrolling up few % of citizens in the last quarter of 2018. First they want to ensure that everything is running smoothly. Then, if all goes well, they will continu with the procedure in September 2019 and start reaching out to the rest of 700 million “virtual citizens” around the world.
